Historically, man has created structures from masonary blocks. This form of building traces its ancestory from the earliest structures which were piles of rock to contemporary cut stone systems and from sun backed brick to the contemporary trend of utilizing kiln fired bricks and cast cement blocks.
Structures utilizing masonary techniques has become increasingly costly due to the labor and energy involved in transporting the materials to the place of construction and erecting the structure. Masonary items such as brick, cut stone or concrete block are extremely heavy and a significant amount of energy is expended transporting them from their place of origin to the building site. Furthermore, skilled masons are required to lay up the building blocks, whether they be brick stone or cement and mortar is required to secure the blocks together. Thus the cost of a masonary structure is a function of considerable energy expended in transporting the materials and a significant amount of skilled labor in handling the mortar and blocks.
A second contemporary means of construction consists of fabricating a structure from a framework of sawn boards and covering the framework with siding and plater board type materials. This latter method of construction is not as sturdy as the block construction and like the block system, does not provide adequate thermal insulation. Furthermore, the wooden structure is prone to fire and insect damage and it requires constant maintenance to prevent deterioration.